Passages: Week 39 September 8

Over this past week, I have been thinking a lot about our “other” life – our life in Perth (this is mainly because I received an email from work/school, concerning next year – reality check!!!). I started thinking about the things I miss about home and the things I would miss on the boat.

The NE coast line of Dominica

I asked myself “What do you miss about your “other” life?” Of course on the top of the list are my family and friends! I miss just being able to get in my car (with air con) and go down to the shops and buy anything I want, I miss the dishwasher and the washing machine, especially when I have to do our laundry by hand as there are no Laundromats around and we are running out of clothes (we are not always in our swimming costumes although we do spend most of our time in them).

I also asked myself “What would I miss about being on the boat?” – Top of this list is the complete sense of freedom to travel and stay anywhere we want to - anywhere where we can safely drop our anchor. Meeting so many interesting people from all different walks of life, the many different cultures we come across, the different foods we have tasted and experienced, the absolutely beautiful sights, sounds and scenery we have been privileged to see and experience.

For example, this week Tuesday we decided to hire a car and drive to some of the waterfalls in Dominica. We were going to take the local transportation but soon realised that it would be much cheaper and quicker for us to hire a car than to have to wait to catch all the buses we would have to catch in order to see the sights we wanted to see.

We (Mel and I and Ivo, Mira and Maya) were crammed into the cheapest car we could get and headed to the NE part of the island. We were keen to see some of the places where Pirates of the Caribbean part 2 were filmed, to see the beautiful and varied vegetation of the island, to see a few of the many waterfalls along the way and to go through the Carib Province (see Week 38).

Most of the roads in the north and east of the island are very narrow and not very well maintained but the scenery is spectacular!

We came across the road leading to the Chaudiere Pools. After a short walk on a trail, we came

Mel, Ivo and Maya about to
jump into the Chaudiere Pools

across what we thought were the Chaudiere Pools. We were enjoying a refreshing swim when a local passed by and said that the Chaudiere Pools were around the corner!

One could jump into the pools as the water was over 40ft deep. We spent about 20 minutes enjoying the surroundings and the fresh cool water and breeze as we were quite high up in the mountains.

Back on the road again, passing Hampstead Bay where the Waterwheel Fight Scene was and Londonderry Bay, where the Chase Scene was filmed in Pirates of the Caribbean. We drove through the Carib Territory stopping off to have a look at the lovely basket work the ladies do. The Carib people are easily recognisable as they have different (lighter) skin tones and facial features (South American Indians) to the rest of the population.

Mel and I enjoying the
Emerald Pools and Falls

We drove onto the Emerald Pools and Falls - this was only a 10 min walk to the pools and falls. The water was freezing when we first went in but as we became used to it, it was so refreshing. Mel had a hard back massage when he stood under the falls.

Back on the road and now heading for the town of Canefield where we knew we could get our gas bottles refilled while we waited. We eventually found the place after asking many people where it was and our bottles were filled in less than 15 minutes. We stopped off at a local restaurant to have lunch before heading to Trafalgar Falls.

The Trafalgar Falls are twin falls – often they are referred to as the Father and Mother falls. The one on the left which is the larger of the

The lovely hot springs at Trafalgar Falls

two, is known as the Father while the “smaller” one on the right is known as the Mother. There is a hydroelectric plant at the base of the falls. On the trail between the two falls, there is a lovely hot spring which we relaxed in before making our way back to the car.

After seeing the Trafalgar falls we realised that it was time to make our way back up north to Portsmouth. Trafalgar Falls was a relatively short drive from the capital of Dominica, Roseau. (We were planning on sailing down to Roseau later in the week).

Wednesday and Thursday we spent on the boat cleaning and polishing her – we went into town each day to buy some fresh fruit and veggies from the local market.

Friday morning we decided we would sail to Roseau which is the capital and main town of Dominica which was 22nm south from Portsmouth.

By 9.00am we were saying a fond farewell to Portsmouth – we had been anchored there for over 10 days.

The sail to Roseau was a lovely easy sail, passing places that we had driven through on Tuesday like Salisbury, Mero and Canefield, arriving in Roseau just after 2.00pm.

Roseau - where we took a
mooring ball from Pancho

There is not much anchoring in Roseau as the drop off is extremely deep and the shelf is extremely small and very close to the shore. There are mooring balls but they are “privately owned” by the locals. We managed to get a mooring ball from Pancho for two nights (Friday and Saturday) as we were planning on leaving Dominica on Sunday for Martinique.

After securing the mooring ball from Pancho, we went for a snorkel, as close to the boat was a boulder that had some interesting sea life around it.

We are finding (obviously) that the further south we head, the hotter it is becoming. It is not so much the temperature but the humidity that we are struggling with so most days we have a few swims/snorkels around the boat.

After our refreshing swim we went for a walk along the main road as Budget Marine was there and we wanted to see what time they would be open in the morning. As I have said countless times, there is ALWAYS something we need for the boat.

Saturday morning we went into the centre of Roseau to look at the various markets – craft, veggies and basket. The town has some interesting and unique buildings. The main Library has a beautiful view of the whole bay and it is opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Photo taken by Mira with the Go Pro

Saturday afternoon we caught a bus down to one of the areas called Champagne Reef that lies within a marine park. Mira from Fata Morgana had been told about the champagne reef and that it was a must see. This is where sulphur bubbles out from the sea bed causing bubbles to rise towards the surface, similar to champagne in a glass.

It was an amazing sight to see and to swim in, over, through the bubbles. The sea life was prolific – we saw a HUGE crayfish, an eel that was trying very hard to get some food from under the rock which was covered in seaweed, lots of little fish – butterfly fish and a few rather large parrot fish munching away at the coral.

We spent about an hour and half snorkelling before we started making our way back to Roseau.

Sunday morning bright and early – 6.00am we were saying “Good bye” to Dominica and heading towards Martinique.

We had an enjoyable sail with winds of between 15 – 20knots. Mel was very happy as he had all three sails out – I was okay when I got used to the feeling of heeling - I still struggle when I see the back of the boat – what appears to me to be heeling half into the water.

As always, as we came parallel to the main land, the wind died – it went down to 2knots and at one stage we were actually going backwards. While we were drifting, we saw the biggest pod of dolphins we had ever seen. I tried to take a video of them but as you can see it is quite difficult holding a small camera, filming while on a boat. We were adamant that we were not going to put the motor on – Mel was keen to try the spinnaker, but we found some wind and we headed right into St Pierre, Martinique arriving just after 2.00pm.

St Pierre with Mount Pelee in the background

Once again the area for anchoring in St Pierre was not great – it is very deep quite close to the water’s edge and there is a very small sandy shelf but with the help of Fata Morgana we found a nice sandy spot to drop the anchor.

The anchor was down and we were in the water – Mel to check the anchor, while I swam across to Fata Morgana for a chat.

Here we are in Martinique – St Pierre which is often referred to a Petite Paris.

So many interesting places to see, people to meet and food to taste. It will be quite difficult going back to the “normal” routine of life but we still have a few more months to worry about that. Let’s see what next week brings.

Keep well and take care.

Love

Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx